An unwanted journey : creative accompaniment in paediatric palliative care

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We have been trained to work from positions of certainty and strength and we associate vulnerability with weakness and incompetence. However, our clinical experience teaches us the opposite. To establish contact with a child we must be ourselves and act spontaneously, yet we must always be conscious of what we are saying and why. We cannot help but feel vulnerable to the pain and suffering of somebody who will die soon. Denying this fact will prevent us from establishing a useful and enriching communication. When a child sees that adults also feel vulnerable it then becomes possible to establish a bond of loyalty and trust. It is not always necessary to express our vulnerability in words. The simple awareness of our own vulnerability will strengthen our credibility as caring professionals in the eyes of the child. Being vulnerable is not synonymous with incompetence.